A lot has happened since I've stopped blogging on babywaves. To summarise - "and then there were three". Yup I'm now a mother of three. Did I ever think I would have three kids? That's an entirely different post. So let's stay on topic and talk about Fukuoka!
We visited Fukuoka last year in April with Marc (our number 1) and Evan (our number 2). We loved it so much we went back again this year. This time, Isabel (our number 3), my dad and my mum joined us too. That's a party of 7! A party of 7 with 2 kids under the age of 2. Now that deserves a whole post on its own! We received comments prior to the trip ranging from - "wow you're brave", to "wow you are insane". So did we survive? We did! We made it there and back and had an awesome time to boot! I won't deny it was exhausting, but 3 key things to enjoy a trip with infants and toddlers -
1) A great sense of humour;
2) Flexibility;
3) The ability to LET GO.
Why Fukuoka?
1) We love Japan
2) The flight is less than 6 hours long
Itinerary
When we visited last year we stayed in Fukuoka city the whole time. We were more adventurous this time. We spent 2 nights in Fukuoka city, drove out to Beppu and stayed for 2 nights, drove to Yunohira and stayed for 1 night and drove back to Fukuoka city and stayed for another 2 nights.
Days One and Two
To me, the biggest downside is the red eye flight to Fukuoka. The flight departs at 1.10am and arrives at 8ish in the morning - Japan is one hour ahead. If your kids sleep like logs then good for you - it will be a relatively uneventful trip. The Lim children however - don't like to sleep. Dad and Mum were on a work trip to Tokyo so arrived in Fukuoka a day before us. The husband and I braced ourselves for the flight with the 3 kids alone. The plan was for him to handle number 2, for me to handle number 3 and number 1 was on his own. This is one of the reasons why we fly SQ! The staff are almost always willing to help and that makes a world of a difference. We did have a fair bit of screaming but the kids did managed to sleep 2 hours or so into the flight. The adults don't get much sleep, as we spend a fair bit of time awake to make sure the kids don't roll off the chairs. Plus we need time to pee, brush teeth, drink water etc. So day one is pretty much a write off. We spent the day napping and wandering around.
For the first 2 nights we stayed at Richmond Tenjin.
We stayed here last year and the location is unbeatable. Its a stone's throw away from Tenjin Chikagai, the massive underground shopping mall that stretches across a few blocks. Tenjin is the main shopping district and our rule when travelling with kids is to stay within, connected to or very close to a shopping mall. And in Japan that means lots of lovely dabao food from the basement of the malls. I don't even have a photo of the basement food halls as we spent most of the time with our jaws on the floor from the sheer amount of choice.
We booked the largest room available in the hotel, which is a twin size with hollywood style beds - this means 2 double beds joined together. When booking hotels in Japan do note that not all twins are created equal - a twin bed in one hotel is not the same size as a twin bed in another. We requested for a baby cot as well and it comes with baby bedding, etc. I wouldn't put a one year old in the cot as its rather small, but for a 3 month old infant its perfect.
Highlight of day one - Evan fell off the hotel chair and smashed into the table AND the wall, which resulted in one of those blood all over the place cuts on his lip. He's had one cut before at home but this had a literal crater of a wound on his bottom lip. The flesh was hanging by a thread and we almost called the doctor to check if he needed stitches. We prayed over him and applied lavender oil and it clotted after 10 minutes or so. This picture shows the brave little boy with a scab the next day.
We spent day two wandering around the mall and doing a bit of shopping at Daiso. I had some issues with my breast pump converter (note to all nursing mums - the voltage in Japan is different so you need a totally different adaptor for your pump to work) so we had to go to the BIC Camera store. (I won't even go into details of how I had to hand express and I'm sure the Husband will have lots of advice to give all you guys out there who have no idea what "to have and to hold till death do us part" really means in this context - but I digress.) This store is just round the corner from the hotel and its MASSIVE. It spans several floors and several buildings! For techies this is a dream come true.
For dinner we visited Zauo restaurant.
This place is usually packed with families and when we visited last year we almost left. The centre of the restaurant is a massive ship surrounded by a moat filled with fishes. Along the border of the moat are individual rooms where you can dine and fish at the same time. The ship was packed with families but it seemed like every table was smoking, they were full and we couldn't get a private room, yet we couldn't bear to eat with all that smoke. They finally did find us a room and we caught a fish using our last bait. This year I asked the hotel to ring the restaurant and book us a private room in advance. We got a really large room this time overlooking the moat and the boys enjoyed looking at the fishes - we tried our hand at fishing but caught nothing. If you catch the fish you can ask the chef to cook it in various styles - sashimi, grilled, braised, etc. If you ask them to catch the fish for you it costs a little more. Having been here before we ordered a whole lot of food FIRST, then took our time to fish. We didn't catch anything this year but the food we ordered was sufficient.
This is a pic of us last year with our catch. Definitely worth a visit if you have kids - do note that its not walking distance from the hotel, and there's no train station nearby. Last year we took a bus there and walked back. This time round with 3 kids and 2 seniors, we decided to just take a taxi. Taxis are aplenty in Fukuoka and are affordable.
Days Three and Four
We hired our car from Toyota car rental and got a Vellfire. It wasn't peak travel season so we didn't pre-book as we wanted to make sure the car could fit us all.
The website doesn't allow you to book online in English - if you can read Japanese then you should be able to navigate the Japanese website. We didn't want to take the risk as there would be cancellation charges if we didn't want the car so we booked in person upon arrival. The nearest Toyota outlet is a 5 mins walk away from the Richmond Tenjin.
The vellfire fit the 7 of us nicely, with an infant car seat and a toddler seat plus all our luggage. We did pack light for the kids, and re-used clothes and cut out all the unnecessary things. I didn't even pack water bottles for the boys - they just drank from mineral water bottles. The last thing I wanted to do on vacation was scrub bottles! The baby seats were clean and in good condition, though I did bring my own car seat covers.
Warning - the GPS does come in English, but it doesn't always work. Next time I would pay for a data plan or portable wifi and use google maps instead. We got to Beppu and found the hotel using the local street signs (and the Husband's superb navigation skills).
We spent the 2 nights in Beppu at the Suginoi.
This is a massive massive onsen hotel. I chose this deliberately as I knew there would be lots of facilities for kids, food was buffet style so we didn't need to step out of the hotel. The hotel isn't new - its quite old to be exact but its been renovated. We stayed at the Hanakan wing which is closest to the onsen. The Honkan wing is still undergoing renovations, when we visited the paint was still fresh but it looked very nice and the restaurant is smaller and more private. We have no regrets staying at the Hanakan wing though - meals were served in the Suginoi Hall and it was so jaw dropping, I once again have zero pictures of it. Its the size of a school hall - at least the size of my son's primary school hall. The edges are covered with food booths and rows and rows of tables buffet style. The choice is mind boggling. Dining with kids is a feat in itself, as we take turns to eat, carry number 3, feed number 2, etc. Now we have to not only take our own food but choose what we want to eat. At many points, I would be pushing the stroller with baby in it, who was yelling cos she refused to sleep, whilst navigating a tray of food.
There were lovely crab legs (so sweet it almost made me cry), foie gras on japanese rice, unagi, freshly fried tori karaage, a plethora of udon, soba, local steak nicely seared, seafood salad, grilled local seafood. Dessert included a chocolate fountain, unlimited Haagen Dazs ice cream - suffice to say for a foodie family like ours, it was a dream come true. Hence no time for photos.
On day four we visited the nearby hot springs. There are several hot springs or "hells (jigoku)" and we drove in the general direction and ended up in Umijigoku.
The feature of this Jigoku is the clear blue waters. The highlight of the trip - us dipping our feet in the hot hot water! Here's a pic of me multi-tasking - nursing baby whilst having my foot soak. The boys enjoyed the foot soak as well.
There is a large supermarket near the Suginoi where we got snacks and Mos burger for lunch. The rain kept us from further sightseeing, and with young kids we could only do short visits around before they got cranky and needed to nap. We wanted to visit a restaurant where you could steam your own food using the hot spring water but didn't make it before the kids got tired.
We chose an ocean view room and the view was really lovely, both day and night. The room was a western and japanese style room, large enough to fit 6 people. The tatami style futons were perfect for kids - no worries about them falling off the bed.
Day Five
Having spent 2 days in a large onsen style hotel, I chose a smaller ryokan called Shimizu Ryokan in Yunohira as our next destination.
I spent a fair bit of time researching where to stay. We heard that Yufuin is a quieter and more unassuming onsen town compared to Beppu and wanted to visit. Most of the ryokans are away from the main shopping strip, so wherever we chose to stay, it was going to be off the beaten track. Yunohira is a small onsen town close to Yufuin. Its much smaller and houses only a few ryokans.
Shimizu ryokan has rave reviews on tripadvisor. I'm quite sceptical about reviews and I scan through to see who posts them, which country they are from, etc. This ryokan has consistently good reviews from everyone. The clincher for me was that Mr Shimizu speaks good english. Travelling in a foreign land with young kids is challenging - having an english speaking host makes a world of a difference. And we were not dissapointed.
We arrived after getting quite lost - again I repeat - don't rely entirely on the GPS. This ryokan is hard to find, and we printed maps in advance. If you can read Chinese it helps as many of the Japanese words are similar to Chinese words. After much prayer we found the ryokan. The main reason why the GPS failed was the rain, which poured down non stop all day. We arrived close to lunchtime and before the official check in time, but Mr Shimizu didn't hesitate to show us to our rooms. The ryokan has a long history, and was built around the unique cave-like onsen which is the main feature of this inn. If my memory serves me right here are around 10 rooms and its a real traditional ryokan. We took 2 rooms on the ground floor overlooking the garden, and slept on futons on the floor. Due to the heavy rain, Mr Shimizu kindly drove us to the main Yunohira street for lunch at an unagi restaurant. The food is nothing to shout about, and there are probably 10 or more shops down the street - but we were hungry and the kind hospitality more than made up for it. We took a nap after lunch and headed straight for the onsen. There is an outdoor onsen which we found far too hot, but the cave like onsen was perfect. Do note that there are no bathrooms in each room. There is an attached toilet, but the only bath area is at the onsen. I saw japanese babies at the Suginoi onsen but never brought Isabel, so at Shimizu ryokan Isabel had her baths Japanese style - on my lap whilst I sat on a stool in the onsen. There are showers as usual and toiletries, and Isabel enjoyed her baths. There's even a little crib in the changing room for babies - very thoughtful.
Dinner was served to us in a separate tatami style room and it was superb. I requested for a mini-kaiseki style meal for number 1, and a one dish japanese meal for number 2 and these were prepared spot on. The adults were treated to several courses. Each dish was carefully prepared and presented in typical Japanese style, with such attention to detail. I'm snacking as I type as hunger has overtaken me - just the pictures of the food is making my mouth water!
It got chilly at night, but we slept comfortably in the room with thick duvets. There was no baby cot for Isabel but we were prepared and bought a small Japanese mattress for her to use in the room. I always pack a cot sheet with me when travelling with baby having encountered some horror cots in Malaysia so the sheet came in handy here.
The next morning we all dipped in the onsen again - a great way to warm up in the chilly weather. The boys have become quite the onsen experts now.
I didn't get a chance to explore the surrounds as I was busy taking care of number 3 but mum and the Husband said it was pretty at night and in the day. You can wear your yukata and wander around in Japanese wooden slippers. There's nothing much to buy at the shops in Yunohira except for mushrooms. Mr Shimizu explained to us that Oita prefecture is famous for its mushrooms. There's one tiny mushroom shop along the street and we had no regrets picking up a few bags as the shops at Yufuin cost more.
Days Six and Seven
We drove back to Fukuoka city and stayed at the Candeo Hotel, Hakata Terrace.
This hotel is very new and the website is entirely in Japanese. We wanted to stay somewhere close to Canal city so that we could do our last minute shopping and once again be close to amenities. The Grand Hyatt and Washington hotels are connected to Canal city. Grand Hyatt was just crazy expensive for the size of room we wanted. The Washington was fully booked and when I sent an email enquiry it took them a week to respond.
The Husband found the Candeo by chance - and its directly opposite Canal city. I booked on Agoda as they had the best rates and once again chose the river side rooms. The view was lovely and each room was large enough to accomodate us and the kids.
Everything in this hotel is so new! The design is cleverly done and makes full use of limited space. Its a small hotel and the staff don't speak much English but they were very helpful. We discovered on the last day that there's a shampoo bar - choose the shampoo, conditioner and shower gel downstairs and use them in your room. I love the bathroom with its modern twist on the Japanese style onsen shower.
We had dinner at Ramen stadium in Canal city and went back the next day for lunch and shopping. The mall has an entire floor of kids stuff - shops, kids toilet, games arcade. What really took the cake though was Moomin cafe.
There are large soft toys sitting down at the tables next to you as you eat. Now tell me, which kid wouldn't like that? We were surprised to find a queue for lunch that day and had to put our name on the list to get a table. The boys loved it as you can tell. I think I loved it more though. I'm toying with the idea of opening one in Singapore. Any investors with spare cash? :)
In between all the caring for the kids, feeding them and putting them down for naps, we still managed to shop, buy clothes, souvenirs and food and have fun. At one point in time, we were lost, GPS didn't know where it was leading us to, it was raining cats and dogs and just about everyone needed to pee. We stopped at a small outhouse toilet which was filthy. The Husband and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing.
The 3 things I mentioned above really kept us sane - the best plan can become undone and we made it through with lots of prayer, lots of laughter and a can-do attitude. What's with the pic above you say? Well it was raining and we were determined to visit the Yanagibashi market to buy foodstuff on our last day in Fukuoka. My stroller doesn't come with a rain cover. How? We covered Isabel in the stroller but her feet was sticking out. The Husband came up with an ingenious solution - disposable umbrella covers tied to her legs! Perfect!
Now that we're back, its time to plan our next trip! :)
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